The December 2016-announced Dynasty Warriors 9 is a PlayStation 4 title, the latest issue of Weekly Famitsu reveals.

The first open-world game in the Dynasty Warrior series, Dynasty Warriors 9 will of course feature actions that let players toss around large armies, as well as various other actions such as shooting at enemies from a distance and invading castles with a grappling hook. The mechanisms behind attack actions are being completely changed, and new characters and various “innovations” are also being added. One of the new warlords being added is Cheng Pu, whose weapon is a dual spear.

A release date for Dynasty Warriors 9 has yet to be announced.

Update 7:25 a.m.: New information has leaked from Weekly Famitsu.

- The latest entry in the Dynasty Warriors series uses an open-world format. The continent of China of the Three Kingdoms period is represented by a single, vast map.

- By making the game open-world, capture methods are also powered up. Since you can roam the map freely, you can even circumvent castles and attack from high places. There is also an extreme variety of attack methods that tests the power of the player’s conception. Can you infiltrate the castle without the enemy noticing and take out your target?

- Long distance attacks using bows will return. Any character can use a bow to attack.

- Time and weather change in real-time. The enemy’s field of vision is poor during the night or when it’s raining, making it harder to be discovered.

- Here’s an overview of the game flow: among the missions that appear all over the map, there are also “main missions.” By clearing main missions, history will greatly advance forward, but these missions have a high degree of difficulty. By clearing missions associated with main missions, you can lower the degree of difficulty.

- “State Combo” is a new system that lets players react in different ways depending on the situation. The combo starts with a trigger attack, follows up with a flow of consecutive attacks that change based on the state of the enemy, and ends with a strong finish attack.

- “Interactive Actions” are actions that change depending on the surrounding terrain and objects. You can use grappling hooks to climb up high mountains and walls. Or you can unleash attacks that use certain things on the spot.

The main flow of the game will follow the history of the Records of the Three Kingdoms, just like previous games.

Battles aren’t broken up into stages, but various battles that correspond to the era will occur all over the land, which you will participate in.

For example, if we’re talking about the Yellow Turban Rebellion, you can fight with the Yellow Turbans in a place where Zhang Jue can be found. If you go to the south-east, you can hear gossip of Zhang Jue and company. When you defeat Zhang Jue, history will progress to the Campaign Against Dong Zhuo era, and whatever is occurring on the map at that time will change completely to match the new period.

Stories are being planned for each warlord, but since there are no branches that change history, the overall flow is the same.

The era and period that each warlord plays a role in are different. If you start with Zhao Yun, you can play the period in which he was active, but if you choose Wang Yuanji, you’ll play in an era set after the life of Zhao Yun.

The ability to switch between warlords is under consideration. Since the era changes so significantly depending on the characters you switch between, we would need to explain the background of the period. We’re currently looking for a solution.

It takes about five minutes to swim across the Yangtze River and Yellow River, since it’s a wide place. There are also ports that you can move to instantly.

Major cities such as Luoyang are smaller than they are in reality, but since one side is about one kilometer, it is an experience of considerable scale.

There are more than 10 cities. General-purpose cities and villages are also being prepared.

Movement is mainly by horse. Fast travel, which will allow you to instantly travel to places you have already visited, is also being prepared.

Urban areas will have buying and selling elements.

The warlords’ costumes are being updated. This time, we’re cutting back on the flashiness and aiming for something that more realistically matches that period.

There are various missions such as hunting wild animals with a bow and battles against different races with dedicated visuals.

Development seems to still have some way to go. I don’t think it will be released at least until it’s cold out.

Dynasty Warriors 9 first details, screenshots
Official English and Japanese websites opened.

Koei Tecmo has opened the official English and Japanese websites for Dynasty Warriors 9, providing the first details and screenshots of the open-world sequel.

Get the information below.

■ Game Details

A New Open World Warriors Game

For the first time in the series, the expansive land of China is shown on a single map with the introduction of an open world format for diverse progression through the game. The ‘one vs. thousands’ exhilarating action of the Warriors series and the beloved characters from the Romance of the Three Kingdoms tale are carried over, but the freedom through an open world stage provides a brand new Warriors experience.

Critical Missions unfold and progress the story of the player character, and are supplemented by numerous missions from various regions such as Regular Missions that affect the Critical Missions and requests from other characters. The situation will be ever changing depending on what missions are selected. In the many battles that occur on the map, players will find a variety of strategies and tactics open to them such as “attacking head on,” “launching a surprise attack from an elevated position” or “infiltrating at night”, for numerous ways to enjoy the expansive world of the Three Kingdoms.

The map is displayed with beautiful graphics and features many different regions of China such as snow plains, jungles and deserts which reflect the passage of time and changing climate. Key cities and checkpoints, such as Luoyang and Hulao Gate, and landmarks such as the Yelｌow River and Mt. Song, are replicated, allowing for deeper immersion into the game world.

Further exhilarating, further variegated, revamped “Warriors Action”

While keeping the simple controls the Warriors series is known for in tact, Dynasty Warriors 9 has a new action called the “State Combo System” that lets players react differently depending on the situation. It is composed of three attacks: the “Trigger Attack” that starts the combo, the string of consecutive “Flow Attacks” that follow and change based on the enemy’s state, and the powerful “Finish Attack” that concludes the combo. Through this, you can experience the series’ highest level of ‘one vs. thousands exhilaration.’

Additionally, Dynasty Warriors 9 uses “Interactive Actions” that are possible based on the terrain and environment. You can of course climb mountains and swim across rivers, “climb walls using a grappling hook,” “explode an oil container with a bow and arrow to attack enemies,” and so on. Since you can choose from a variety of actions based on the situation, the breadth of strategy is expanded.

The epic tales from the Three Kingdoms through the eyes of new and returning officers

New comers like Cheng Pu, a Wu officer who supported the Sun family across 3 generations, and Zhou Cang, a Shu officer known for his fleetness of foot are two of the fascinating new characters.

Experience the Three Kingdoms story woven through a vast roster of characters; included are all 83 officers from the Dynasty Warriors series, with new costumes.

■ Characters

Cheng Pu

An outspoken man of integrity.

A long term retainer and skilled General who supported 3 generations of the Sun Family and furthered the expansion of Wu territory. A brave general who fought often on the front lines but was also a trusted advisor and tactician.

Xiahou Dun

A one-eyed general who supports military rule.

The cousin of Cao Cao, he was a courageous warrior and a superb fighter despite losing an eye in battle. A calm and level-headed leader, he was dependable to a fault and was one of Cao Cao’s greatest assets in his bid for supremacy.

Guan Yu

A military god with great integrity.

Honoring an oath of brotherhood with Liu Bei and Zhang Fei, he was an essential figure in the establishment of the Kingdom of Shu as the leader of the Five Tiger Generals of Shu. A heroic and skilled warrior with a strong dedication to what is right, he earned the respect of both friend and foe alike while at the same time, acquring the nickname “Lord of the Magnficent Beard” from the Emperor.

Zhao Yun

A young dragon guided by the light of benevolence.

As a young warrior, he traveled the land in search for someone worthy of loyalty. Finding such qualities in Liu Bei, he ended his journey and entered Liu Bei’s service wherein he becomes one of the Five Tiger Generals of Shu. Normally a calm person, he displayed ferocity in battle that shook entire armies.

Dynasty Warriors 9 is currently in development for PlayStation 4. A release window has yet to be announced.

(Update 9:15 a.m.:
It should be noted that Koei Tecmo has updated the U.S. and European Dynasty Warriors 9 websites to remove the PlayStation 4 logo that was at the bottom of the page when this post was first published. In both Koei Tecmo America and Koei Tecmo Europe’s press releases sent out at 9:00 a.m. this morning, it states, “Platforms, release timing, and more information on the game’s new features, characters, and narrative will be unveiled in the coming months.” In Japan, the game has already been officially announced as a PlayStation 4 release.)